Cir's 5 Year Tysabri Update

by Akrista
(Ohio)

Hi Dear Vistor,

A quick update on Cir's Tysabri journey. As you can see from the title of this post, Cir has been taking it for about 5 years now. We do feel that it seemed to slow the progression, however, we've been wondering for awhile if it also contributed to his back pain.

Cir tried to take a break several times over the years, siting increased back and joint pain as the reason. Each time he was encouraged to continue taking the medication because he could experience relapses.

Well, his back pain has gotten progressively worse over the last several years and he wants to see if taking a break from Tysabri would make a difference in the severity of the pain he has been having. We remembered that he wasn't feeling pain when he had his first appointment.

The only thing that changed was taking Tysabri. For the last 4 yrs, his pain has become unbearable. We thought it was just sciatica at first, however, all of his pain - neuropathy, joint, sciatic, and now hip - has become increasingly worse, to the point where he has pain almost 24/7.

Sometimes he wants to stay in a dream state because that is the only time he doesn't feel pain. Well, he finally decided to stop the Tysabri to see if the pain will ease up. We've also embarked on another lifestyle change - eating a plant-based diet, based on the book The Starch Solution.

So far, the results have been good. The amount of reduced pain days has increased. He still has days of pain, though, and we think he needs to totally eliminate the oils in certain foods as well. We didn't realize how many vegan processed foods contain added oils.

We will update you if eliminating oils will make a difference and also if he decides to resume Tysabri after taking a month break.

Wishing you health and well-being.